Introducing the Adherence Promotion with Person-centered Technology (APPT) trial: Rationale, methods, and baseline characteristics.

Home-based cognitive training programs delivered via computers and tablets hold promise as cost-effective, population-level interventions to prevent or mitigate age-related cognitive decline. However, adherence to such programs is often low. Using message-tailoring techniques and an adaptive algorithm, we developed a person-centered reminder smart system that delivers motivational messages at times when participants are predicted to be available for training activities.

Spatial navigation skills in older adults with and without cognitive impairment.

Introduction: Navigation is a fundamental cognitive ability essential for daily functioning. However, navigation skills decline with age and are further impaired in individuals with cognitive impairment (CI). Understanding these deficits is critical for developing interventions to support affected populations.

The Use of Technology to Support Cognitive Diversity Among Older Adults.

Older adults represent a remarkably heterogeneous population that is diverse in many dimensions, including cognition. Cognitive diversity includes normative age-related changes in cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and more severe impairments such as dementia. The causes and nature of these cognitive impairments (CIs) are varied, extending beyond MCI and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias to encompass stroke, Parkinson's disease, and traumatic brain injury.

Usability of the Smartwatch as a Prospective Memory Aid for Cognitively Diverse Older Adults.

Smartwatches have potential to provide support for prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember and carry out an intention in the future. How older adults (OAs), particularly those with cognitive impairment (CI), might interact with smartwatches is undetermined. This study aimed to understand the usability of smartwatches among cognitively diverse OAs and the potential for smartwatches to serve as reminder aids for this population.

A Short Medicare Proficiency Questionnaire (MPQ): Reliability and Validity.

This cross-sectional study explores the reliability and validity of a newly developed 15-item Medicare proficiency questionnaire (MPQ) across a mixed group of participants enrolled and unenrolled in Medicare. The MPQ was designed to assess beneficiary knowledge across a variety of Medicare topics and was developed by combining questions selected from the 2003 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and updating it with researcher-generated Medicare Part D questions. During the month of February in 2024, participants enrolled and unenrolled in Medicare, which were recruited on Prolific, completed online surveys which included the MPQ and demographic questions.

Optimizing cognitive interventions to improve real-world function for healthy older adults.

Healthy aging requires acquiring new functional skills for adaptation in a dynamic environment. Cognitive interventions with older adults have largely focused on improving broad cognitive abilities, aiming for transfer to functional effects. By contrast, interventions focusing directly on acquiring new functional skills can address current real-world issues, including the need for reskilling and reducing the digital divide, especially for underserved communities.

Characterizing the attitudes, proficiency, and usage patterns for daily technology among older adults with a cognitive impairment.

Purpose: Older adults with a cognitive impairment may be challenged by the demands associated with technology systems used to support everyday activities. We investigated technology attitudes, proficiency, and usage across the domains of health, social, transportation, leisure, and domestic activities among older adults with mild cognitive impairment, traumatic brain injury, and post-stroke cognitive impairment. We examined whether age, gender, health, cognition, or technology attitudes (comfort, interest, efficacy) predicted technology proficiency and usage patterns.

Assessing the Feasibility and Efficacy of Virtual Reality Navigational Training for Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: This study evaluates the feasibility of virtual reality (VR) wayfinding training with aging adults and assesses the impact of the training on wayfinding performance.

Research Design And Methods: 49 participants were recruited using a convenience sample approach. Wayfinding tasks were conducted by 3 participant groups: active VR training, passive video training, and no training, assigned randomly.

Development of the Japanese version of the Mobile Device Proficiency Questionnaire: A cross-sectional validation study.

Aim: In response to the growing popularity of mobile devices among older adults in Japan, this study aimed to establish a reliable and valid measure of mobile device proficiency by developing a Japanese version of the Mobile Device Proficiency Questionnaire (MDPQ-J) for the Japanese population.

Methods: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the MDPQ-J, we administered the questionnaire to 100 young or middle-aged participants (37.78 ± 13.

Predicting adherence to gamified cognitive training using early phase game performance data: Towards a just-in-time adherence promotion strategy.

Background And Objectives: This study aims to develop a machine learning-based approach to predict adherence to gamified cognitive training using a variety of baseline measures (demographic, attitudinal, and cognitive abilities) as well as game performance data. We aimed to: (1) identify the cognitive games with the strongest adherence prediction and their key performance indicators; (2) compare baseline characteristics and game performance indicators for adherence prediction, and (3) test ensemble models that use baseline characteristics and game performance data to predict adherence over ten weeks.

Research Design And Method: Using machine learning algorithms including logistic regression, ridge regression, support vector machines, classification trees, and random forests, we predicted adherence from weeks 3 to 12.

Prioritizing Technology Initiatives to Reduce Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults.

In their insightful commentary, Kokorelias et al. (2024) explore the potential of technology in supporting aging in the right place, addressing both opportunities and challenges from individual to societal levels. Our commentary specifically focuses on recent empirical evidence for technology's benefits in enhancing social connectivity and reducing loneliness for older adults, both with and without cognitive impairments.

Predicting Adherence to Computer-Based Cognitive Training Programs Among Older Adults: Study of Domain Adaptation and Deep Learning.

Background: Cognitive impairment and dementia pose a significant challenge to the aging population, impacting the well-being, quality of life, and autonomy of affected individuals. As the population ages, this will place enormous strain on health care and economic systems. While computerized cognitive training programs have demonstrated some promise in addressing cognitive decline, adherence to these interventions can be challenging.

The Benefits of Technology for Engaging Aging Adults: Findings From the PRISM 2.0 Trial.

Background And Objectives: Technology has potential for providing support for aging adults. This study evaluated the Personal Reminder Information and Social Management 2.0 (PRISM 2.

Are Virtual Assistants Trustworthy for Medicare Information: An Examination of Accuracy and Reliability.

Background And Objectives: Advances in artificial intelligence (AI)-based virtual assistants provide a potential opportunity for older adults to use this technology in the context of health information-seeking. Meta-analysis on trust in AI shows that users are influenced by the accuracy and reliability of the AI trustee. We evaluated these dimensions for responses to Medicare queries.

Adherence Promotion With Tailored Motivational Messages: Proof of Concept and Message Preferences in Older Adults.

This study examined the feasibility of using tailored text messages to promote adherence to longitudinal protocols and determined what facets of text message tone influence motivation. Forty-three older adults ( = 73.21,  = 5.

Comparing the effectiveness of two theory-based strategies to promote cognitive training adherence.

This study compared the effectiveness of two theory-based strategies to promote cognitive training adherence among older adults ( = 70 years, = 4.42, range = 64-84). Strategies incorporated either (a) elements of implementation intention formation or (b) positive message framing, both of which have been found to promote adherence to health behaviors in other domains.

Understanding Barriers to the Collection of Mobile and Wearable Device Data to Monitor Health and Cognition in Older Adults: A Scoping Review.

Advances in technology have made continuous/remote monitoring of digital health data possible, which can enable the early detection and treatment of age-related cognitive and health declines. Using Arksey and O'Malley's methodology, this scoping review evaluated potential barriers to the collection of mobile and wearable device data to monitor health and cognitive status in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Selected articles were US based and focused on experienced or perceived barriers to the collection of mobile and wearable device data by adults 55 years of age or older.

Using Immersive Virtual Reality to Enhance Social Interaction Among Older Adults: A Cross-Site Investigation.

Background And Objectives: Virtual reality (VR) applications are increasingly being targeted toward older adults as a means to maintain physical and cognitive skills and to connect with others, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 era. Our knowledge about how older adults interact with VR is limited, however, since this is an emerging area and the related research literature is still rather slim. The current study focused specifically on older adults' reactions to a social-VR environment, examining participant's views about the possibility of meaningful interactions in this format, the impacts of social-VR immersion on mood and attitude, and features of the VR environment that affected these outcomes.

Predicting Older Adults' Continued Computer Use After Initial Adoption.

Background And Objectives: Sustained computer and internet use have the potential to help older adults in various aspects of their lives, making predicting sustained use a critical goal. However, some factors related to adoption and use (e.g.

Terms of Engagement: Understanding the Motivations, Preferences, and Attitudes of Older Adults Toward Mobile Cognitive Assessment and Training.

Background And Objectives: The future of cognitive assessment is likely to involve mobile applications for smartphones and tablets; cognitive training is also often delivered in these formats. Unfortunately, low adherence to these programs can hinder efforts at the early detection of cognitive decline and interfere with examining cognitive training efficacy in clinical trials. We explored factors that increase adherence to these programs among older adults.

New Opportunities for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cognitive Decline: Adherence Challenges and the Promise of Smart and Person-Centered Technologies.

Early detection of age-related cognitive decline has transformative potential to advance the scientific understanding of cognitive impairments and possible treatments by identifying relevant participants for clinical trials. Furthermore, early detection is also key to early intervention once effective treatments have been developed. Novel approaches to the early detection of cognitive decline, for example through assessments administered via mobile apps, may require frequent home testing which can present adherence challenges.

Understanding older adults' attitudes toward mobile and wearable technologies to support health and cognition.

The use of technology to facilitate remote patient monitoring and virtual care is desirable due to the challenges of providing healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for more efficient and effective methods to care for the expanding older adult population. Further, the collection and sharing of patient generated health data (PGHD) through these technologies holds promise with respect to improving outcomes and reducing the cost of care by facilitating the early detection and treatment of cognitive and health problems. Despite the potential benefits of these technologies, their promise might be hampered by low rates of acceptance and adoption among older adults.

Deep learning-based predictions of older adults' adherence to cognitive training to support training efficacy.

As the population ages, the number of older adults experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease, and other forms of dementia will increase dramatically over the next few decades. Unfortunately, cognitive changes associated with these conditions threaten independence and quality of life. To address this, researchers have developed promising cognitive training interventions to help prevent or reverse cognitive decline and cognitive impairment.

Investigating the behavioral mechanisms of action video game effects in a complex transfer task.

Over the past few decades, researchers have argued that playing action video games can substantially improve cognitive abilities and enhance learning. However, consensus has not been reached regarding the mechanisms through which action game experience facilitates superior performance on untrained perceptually and cognitively demanding transfer tasks. We argue that analysis of behaviors engaged in during transfer task performance may provide key insights into answering this question.